Hall of Fame Inductee...top five in the world, five grand slam doubles titles, Wimbledon finalist, US Davis Cup player and Captain, played against Laver, Rosewall, Gonzales, Hoad, etc. Maybe try Google.

Hall of Fame Inductee...top five in the world, five grand slam doubles titles, Wimbledon finalist, US Davis Cup player and Captain, played against Laver, Rosewall, Gonzales, Hoad, etc. Maybe try Google.

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I see they named a town after Tracy Austin in Texas.
I just love you Mexicans!!

Ralston was the great US hope in the 60´s ( just before A Ashe).Had a few big wins against the top guys but never was a threat to the big aussie boys.He seems to have done much better as a US Davis Cup captain and as a commentator and coach, in which he did pretty well.

Nice interview. Like many Californians (Dr. Allan Fox is another example) Dennis has high regards for Gonzalez. Interesting, that Pancho was a good mentor for many young players of the time (he also helped Ashe on his way up), while he was a loner among his fellow pros and a villain on the court. That he was Nr. 1 for 12 years, seems to me a bit exaggerated.

Thanks atatu! I have several old tennis books with pictures of Dennis Ralston in them as examples of excellent tennis technique and form. His prime as an amature was before I started playing, but, I always found him to be a fascinating player and person, for as much as I didn't know about him as what I did.

PS: FYI, it's "Pancho" not Poncho.

PPS: I like this quote: "The guy I had the toughest time with, personally, was Roy Emerson. I played him a lot. He was an attacking player, and really fast, I think he still holds the long jump record in Australia for high school athletes. He was the mark, we all said we wanted to be as fit as Roy Emerson, because he never got tired." IMO, Emmo doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Ralston has some interesting points. One thing I have to mention about Davis Cup. Outside the tennis community there is virtually no interest or respect for the Davis Cup. Several years ago when the US won the Davis Cup, the only mention in my city's newspaper was two lines of tiny type in the section called "Other Sports News."

Thanks atatu! I have several old tennis books with pictures of Dennis Ralston in them as examples of excellent tennis technique and form. His prime as an amature was before I started playing, but, I always found him to be a fascinating player and person, for as much as I didn't know about him as what I did.

PS: FYI, it's "Pancho" not Poncho.

PPS: I like this quote: "The guy I had the toughest time with, personally, was Roy Emerson. I played him a lot. He was an attacking player, and really fast, I think he still holds the long jump record in Australia for high school athletes. He was the mark, we all said we wanted to be as fit as Roy Emerson, because he never got tired." IMO, Emmo doesn't get the recognition he deserves.[/

Problem with Emerson is that he squipped the pros to make a very good living and filling his pockets with glory in the quite depleted amateur ranks ( only Osuna,Stolle and Santana could spell serious trouble to him ).

Thanks atatu! I have several old tennis books with pictures of Dennis Ralston in them as examples of excellent tennis technique and form. His prime as an amature was before I started playing, but, I always found him to be a fascinating player and person, for as much as I didn't know about him as what I did.

PS: FYI, it's "Pancho" not Poncho.

PPS: I like this quote: "The guy I had the toughest time with, personally, was Roy Emerson. I played him a lot. He was an attacking player, and really fast, I think he still holds the long jump record in Australia for high school athletes. He was the mark, we all said we wanted to be as fit as Roy Emerson, because he never got tired." IMO, Emmo doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Thanks atatu! I have several old tennis books with pictures of Dennis Ralston in them as examples of excellent tennis technique and form. His prime as an amature was before I started playing, but, I always found him to be a fascinating player and person, for as much as I didn't know about him as what I did.

PS: FYI, it's "Pancho" not Poncho.

PPS: I like this quote: "The guy I had the toughest time with, personally, was Roy Emerson. I played him a lot. He was an attacking player, and really fast, I think he still holds the long jump record in Australia for high school athletes. He was the mark, we all said we wanted to be as fit as Roy Emerson, because he never got tired." IMO, Emmo doesn't get the recognition he deserves.[/

Problem with Emerson is that he squipped the pros to make a very good living and filling his pockets with glory in the quite depleted amateur ranks ( only Osuna,Stolle and Santana could spell serious trouble to him ).

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Frank Froehling beat him at the U.S. Nationals. Anyway, Ralston played all of the greats from the 60's and cites Emmo as his toughest opponent. That means something.

Welcome! Thanks for the interview. I didn't see anything about how's he doing with his leg. I can understand if it was too sensitive to ask about.

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We didn't talk about it directly, he just talked about how he is getting used to it and getting better day by day. I know he is actively teaching and a friend of mine is going to play doubles with him on Friday. Here is a link with some pictures.

We didn't talk about it directly, he just talked about how he is getting used to it and getting better day by day. I know he is actively teaching and a friend of mine is going to play doubles with him on Friday. Here is a link with some pictures.

Great pictures. It takes tremendous strength of character to continue coaching after what he's been through.

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The leg is a much bigger deal of course, but if memory serves, Ralston in retirement, once had an arm injury and couldn't play with it at all....so until it healed he worked on playing with his non-dominant arm and got to the point where he could beat a lot of club players that way.

Santana managed him very well at Wimbledon, and Santana was not a great grass courter.I think it was much more an issue of mind over matter.

My opinion is: Emmo,Stolle,Santana would be the only 3 amateurs of their time to be reasonably succesful against the big pro likes: Laver,Gimeno,Gonzales,Trabert,Hoad or Rosewall.Rest of amateurs, like Ralston,Mc Kinley,Osuna.. would just suck.

I saw him a couple of times when I was teaching in Dallas, way back when he was coaching at SMU, but I didn't know him. My old college roommate, who was also teaching there at the time, did know him, took a few students to him, and thought very highly of him as a person and as a coach.

In the linked blog (thanks for posting that), I found Ralston's argument for Gonzales as GOAT quite persuasive.

Problem with Emerson is that he squipped the pros to make a very good living and filling his pockets with glory in the quite depleted amateur ranks ( only Osuna,Stolle and Santana could spell serious trouble to him ).

Santana managed him very well at Wimbledon, and Santana was not a great grass courter.I think it was much more an issue of mind over matter.

My opinion is: Emmo,Stolle,Santana would be the only 3 amateurs of their time to be reasonably succesful against the big pro likes: Laver,Gimeno,Gonzales,Trabert,Hoad or Rosewall.Rest of amateurs, like Ralston,Mc Kinley,Osuna.. would just suck.

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I agree that only the three top amateurs would have been reasonably successful (if at all) against Laver, Rosewall and Co.